• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.117-124
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• 2021

In this study, we perform a 3D CFD conjugate analysis according to the shape of the foil ramp of the air foil thrust bearing, analyze the flow characteristics inside the bearing, and compare the results corresponding to the two shapes. Air has a lower viscosity than lubricating oil. Therefore, the thrust runner of the bearing must rotate at high speed to support the load. The gap between thrust runner and foil is significantly smaller than that of the oil bearing. Hence, it is crucial to analyze the complex flow characteristics inside the bearing to predict the complex flow inside the bearing and performance of the bearing. In addition, flow characteristics may appear differently depending on the ramp shape of the bearing foil, which may affect bearing performance. In this study, we numerically analyze the main flow path of air flowing into the bearing and the secondary flow path used for cooling the bearing using the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX and compare the flow characteristics for straight and curved foil ramp shapes. Notably, there is a difference in the speed of the flowing air according to the shape of the ramp, which affects the bearing performance.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.332-341
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• 2020

High-speed turbomachinery implements gas foil bearings (GFBs) due to their distinctive advantages, such as high efficiency, lesser part count, and lower weight. This paper provides the test results of the static structural stiffnesses and loss factors of bump-type foil thrust bearings with increasing preload and bearing deflection. The focus of the current work is to experimentally quantify variability in structural stiffnesses and loss factors among the four test thrust bearings with identical design values and material of the bump and top foil geometries using the same (open-source) fabrication method. A simple test setup, using a rigidly mounted non-rotating shaft and thrust disk, measures the bearing bump deflections with increasing static loads on the test bearing. The inner and outer diameters of the test bearings are 41 mm and 81 mm, respectively. The loss factor, best-representing energy dissipation in the test bearings, is estimated from the area inside the local hysteresis loop of the load versus the bearing deflection curve. The measurements show that structural stiffnesses and loss factors of the test bearings significantly rely on applied preloads and bearing deflections. Local structural stiffnesses of the test bearings increase with applied preloads but decrease with bearing deflections. Changes of loss factors are less sensitive to applied preloads and bearing deflections compared to those of structural stiffnesses. Up to 35% variability in static load structural stiffnesses is found between bearings, while up to 30% variability in loss factors is found between bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.292-297
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• 2009

Air foil thrust bearings are the critical components available on high-efficiency turbomachinery which need an ability to endure the large axial force. Air foil bearings are self-acting hydrodynamic bearings that use ambient air as their lubricant. Since the air is squeezed by the edge of compliance-surface of bearing, hydrodynamic force is generated. In this study, we measured the air film thickness and obtained the minimum film thickness experimentally. To increase the maximum load capacity, compliance of sub-structure was controlled. From numerical analyses, it is seen that, if the air film thickness is distributed more uniformly by variable compliance, the thrust bearings can take more axial load.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.279-284
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• 2009

The limiting load capacity of air foil thrust bearings at extremely high operating speeds is theoretically investigated. The limiting load capacity of a sector is shown to increase as the angular extent ${\beta}$ and the inlet film thickness $h_1$ of the bearing increase, while it decreases with an increase in the ramp ratio b and the compliance ${\alpha}$ of the bearing. But it is found that the angular extent of the bearing is not related to the total limiting load capacity of the $360^{\circ}$ thrust bearing.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

This study analyzes the thermal effects on the performance of an air foil thrust bearing (AFTB) using COMSOL Multiphysics to approximate actual bearing behavior under real conditions. An AFTB is a sliding-thrust bearing that uses air as a lubricant to support the axial load. The AFTB consists of top and bump foils and supports the rotating disk through the hydrodynamic pressure generated by the wedge effect from the inclined surface of the top foil and the elastic deformation of the bump foils, similar to a spring. The use of air as a lubricant has some advantages such as low friction loss and less heat generation, enabling air bearings to be widely used in high-speed rotating systems. However, even in AFTB, the effects of energy loss due to viscosity at high speeds, interface frictional heat, and thermal deformation of the foil caused by temperature increase cannot be ignored. Foil deformation derived from the thermal effect influences the minimum decay in film thickness and enhances the film pressure. For these reasons, performance analyses of isothermal AFTBs have shown few discrepancies with real bearing behavior. To account for this phenomenon, a thermal-fluid-structure analysis is conducted to describe the combined mechanics. Results show that the load capacity under the thermal effect is slightly higher than that obtained from isothermal analysis. In addition, the push and pull effects on the top foil and bump foil-free edges can be simulated. The differences between the isothermal and thermal behaviors are discussed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.300-306
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• 2018

In this study, the performance of foil thrust bearings was investigated by performing bearing take-off and load capacity tests, using an in-house designed and manufactured vertical bearing test rig. The mean take-off rotational speed and maximum load capacity of the bearing specimen were ~18,000 rpm and ~80 kPa, respectively. The vertical bearing test rig was observed to yield higher coefficients of friction and frictional torques than a horizontal bearing test rig under identical test conditions. This was a result of its structural characteristics, in that the bearing specimen is placed atop the thrust runner, which keeps it from being separated from the runner after the bearing take-off. In addition, bearing take-off was observed at a higher runner rotational speed as this structure keeps air from flowing between the top foil and runner surfaces, which requires a higher runner speed. The parallel alignment between the bearing specimen and runner surfaces can be maintained within a certain range more easily in a vertical test rig than in a horizontal test rig. Because of these advantages, Korean Industrial Standard, KS B 2060, recommends a vertical bearing test rig as the standard test device for foil thrust bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2023

This paper describes an experimental investigation of the effect of cooling flow rate on gas foil thrust bearing (GFTB) performance. In a newly developed GFTB test rig, a non-contact type pneumatic cylinder provides static loads to the test GFTB and a high-speed motor rotates a thrust runner up to the maximum speed of 80 krpm. Force sensor, torque arm connected to another force sensor, and thermocouples measures the applied static load, drag torque, and bearing temperature, respectively, for cooling flow rates of 0, 25, and 50 LPM at static loads of 50, 100, and 150 N. The test GFTB with the outer radius of 31.5 mm has six top foils supported on bump foil structures. During the series of tests, the transient responses of the bearing drag torque and bearing temperature are recorded until the bearing temperature converges with time for each cooling flow rate and static load. The test data show that the converged temperature decreases with increasing cooling flow rate and increases with increasing static load. The drag torque and friction coefficient decrease with increasing cooling flow rate, which may be attributed to the decrease in viscosity and lubricant (air) temperature. These test results suggest that an increase in cooling flow rate improves GFTB performance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.541-548
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• 2008

To improve the operational stability of the 100 Watts class Micro Gas Turbine, the air foil bearing with additional damping material has been investigated. The key of structure is that a viscoelastic material is coated under the top foil. The compliant foil journal bearing and thrust bearing are designed to withstand high load of vibrations at the operational speed 870,000 rpm. Test is executed in room temperature. Rotor has stably operated above 480,000 rpm. It is over 55% of the designed speed 870,000 rpm. Synchronous and subsynchronous vibrations are both well controlled. Vibration amplitude diminished over 50%. With the help of increased damping resulting from the viscoelasticity, the rotor stability of Micro turbocharger has been improved.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.47-55
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• 2008

Turbocharger has a main purpose on recycling of the exhaust gas from the engine cylinder. On the basis of the facility characteristics, the turbocharger supported on floating ring bearings has some problems such as the large volume, oil supplement for lubrication and high power loss due to high operating torque. The air foil bearing has been studied as the bearing element to be able to alternate the floating ring bearing without the problems of the floating ring bearing. In this study, the air foil bearing has 2 parts; journal and thrust bearings, and the test facility consists of the engine, exhaust and intake parts. In addiction, the specification of the turbocharger follows a small turbocharger for SUV engine. The engine speed is varied from 750 (idle rpm) to 2,500 rpm and then, the rotating speed of the turbocharger rotor is accelerated from 0 to 100,000 rpm. From those experiments, the comparison between the performances of the air foil bearing and floating ring bearing is conducted and the results show that the air foil bearing has less power loss, maximum 770 watt, than the floating ring bearing, maximum 5,110 watt. This result verifies that the air foil bearing is more efficient and able to output more power under the same condition of the input power.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2019

The paper presents the rotordynamic performance measurements and model predictions of a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) air compressor supported on gas foil bearings (GFBs). The rotor has an impeller on one end and a thrust runner on the other end. The front (impeller side) and rear (thrust side) gas foil journal bearings (GFJBs) are located between the impeller and thrust runner to support the radial loads, and a pair of gas foil thrust bearings are located on both sides of the thrust runner to support the axial loads. The test GFJBs have a partial arc shim foil installed between the top foil and bump strip layers to enhance hydrodynamic pressure generation. During the rotordynamic performance tests, two sets of orthogonally installed eddy-current displacement sensors measure the rotor radial motions at the rotor impeller and thrust ends. A series of speed-up and coast-down tests to 100k rpm demonstrates the dominant synchronous (1X) rotor responses to imbalance masses without noticeable subsynchronous motions, which indicates a rotordynamically stable rotor-GFB system. Finite element analysis of the rotor determines the rotor free-free (bending) natural modes and frequencies well beyond the maximum rotating frequency. The predicted damped natural frequencies and damping ratios of the rotor-GFB system reveal rotordynamic stability over the speeds of interest. The imbalance response predictions show that the predicted critical speeds and rotor amplitudes strongly agree with the test measurements, thus validating the developed rotordynamic model.